Inking device for marking machines



Oct. 11, 1938. c. F. ROBBINS EI' ALI 2,132,495

' INKING DEVICE FOR MARKING MACHINES Filed Jul 1, 1937 Fig.5. I Fig.1;

' InvenTo'rs. Charles F Rnbbins ChorlesHDheesemun ATTyS.

Patented Oct. 11, 1938 'IN'KING-DE VIGE- FOR MARKING MACHINES Charles F. Robbins, Keene, and Charles H.

Cheeseman, Marlboro, N. H., assignorsto. Markem Machine Company, Keene, N. H., a, corporation; of New Hampshire Application July 1,, 1937, Serial NIL, 151,344.

solaims (Cl.1'01319) I j This invention relates to. inking devices for marking machines of'that known type comprising. a vertically moving printing head carrying type members and an inking roll. movable across.

the face of the type. members when the. printing.

head is in raised position thereby to supply the in the particulars more fully hereinafter set.

forth.

In the drawing wherein we have shown one embodiment of our invention;

Fig. l. is a fragmentary side. view of a. marking machine having our. improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is. a fragmentary view of the ink reser-- 25 voir and the ink-transferring pins;

Fig. 3 is: a section on the line 3'--3-, Fig. 2.1show.=.. ing the ink-transferring pins inone. position;

Fig. 4 is a View similar to. Fig. 3: showing the ink-transferring pins in another position;

Figs. 5 and 6 are fragmentary views of the means for operating the rocker carrying the ink-. transferring pins, said views showing the parts in different positions. 7

While our improvement can be. used in connection with marking machines of various construetions, we have chosen herein to show itwas it might be embodied in a marking machine of the type shown in any oneof the following patents; to wit, No. 1,241,278, September 25, 1917; No. 1,247,876, November 25, 1917; No. 1,258,944, March 12, 19 18.

The marking machine illustrated in these patents comprises a frame I having an overhanging part 2 in, which is mounted a vertically reciproeating printing head 3,, the latter carrying the type member or members 4 by which the printed impression is made, it being understood that the work to receive the printed impression is supported on the platen 5.

In these machines it is customary to provide.

one or more ink rolls 6 for inking-the face of the type member 4. Two such ink rolls are herein illustrated and they are carried by a suitable carrier shown in the form of a swinging arm I which is pivotedat 8 to a riser 9 rigid with and extending upwardly from the printing head 3. The arm 1: is connected by'a link H] to some moving part of the machine so that as the printing head 3 moves up and down the ink-roll-carrying arm I will swing back and forth on its pivot 8, thereby carying the ink rolls 6'- across the face of the type, as shown by dotted lines, Fig. 1, for the purpose. of inking the latter. As the arm 1 approaches. its rearmost position the inking rolls 6 engage the inking plate 32 and move across the latter thereby picking up asupply of ink therefrom, and as. the arm 1' swings forwardly the ink rolls are moved across the face of the type members 4. to ink the latter as. above stated.

The swinging movement. of the. arm I is so timed with relation to the 'up. and down movement ofthe printing head 3 that the ink rolls move forwardly across the face of the type and then start on their return journey while the printing head is in its raised position, and when the printing head is in its lowered position the arm 1 is in its retracted position with the ink rolls in engagement with the inking plate 32. The. inking p1ate32; is. yieldingly supported and is. capable of rotation as. usual in devices of this type so that when the ink rolls engage. the plate and move across the latter the plate can 'yield downwardly to accommodate the curved path of l movement of the rolls. During the downward yielding movement of the plate it is turned one step forward by the cooperative action between the pivoted pawl 50. and the ratchet teeth 5| on the under side of the type.

The parts. thus. far described are such as may be. found in various marking machines of this general type and form nopart. of our present invention, which relates to the means for supplying the. ink to the inking plate 32.

In our present invention we provide an ink reservoir ll containing a. supply of ink l2 and provide'means operated by the swinging movement of the arm 1 to transfer ink from the reservoir I l to the ink roll '6 on its. backward journey toward the inking plate 32, so that when the ink roll 6 comes into contact with and rolls over'the plate 32 and the latter is forced downwardly and thereby given a turning movementthe ink which was delivered to the ink roll from the reservoir will be distributed over the inking plate and the roll will become evenly inked by its contact with the rotating inking plate. The ink reservoir i2 is shown as mounted on a suitable bracket I3 secured to the frame I. It is open at its top and extends the full length of the ink rolls 6. Mounted in the reservoir is a rocker I4 which extends the length thereof and is journalled in the end walls l5 of said reservoir so as to be capable of a turning movement about its axis.

Extending laterally from this rocker M are two series of arms or pins I6, I1. The pins l6 are ink-transferring pins and their function is to transfer small quantities of ink from the reservoir II to the rolls 6. The other set of pins are in the nature of agitating pins and their function is to keep the ink within the reservoir stirre up and prevent it from settling.

The ink-transferring pins I 6, and there is a row of such pins extending the length of the rocker M, are so disposed that when the rocker is in one extreme position as shown in Fig. 4' the ends of the pins will be submerged in the ink I2, while when the rocker is in the other extreme position shown in Fig. 3 the ends of the pins I5 are raised into a position to be engaged by the ink rolls 6 as they move backwardly.

'Means are provided for rocking the rocker I 4 in timed relation with the movement of the swinging arm 7, said rocker turning from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 3 as the arm 1 starts to swing backwardly, and moving from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4 as said arm 1 starts to move forwardly.

When the ink-transferring pins I6 are raised from their submerged position shown in Fig. 4 to their ink-supplying position shown in Fig. 3, each carries with it a small amount of ink and as each ink roll 6 moves backwardly over the ends of the raised pins a small amount of ink will be deposited on the roll from each pin as shown at 38 in Fig. 2. As the arm 1 approaches its rearmost position the ink rolls 6 carrying the small amount of ink shown at 38 will come into rolling contact with the inking plate 32 and the ink which has been deposited on the ink rolls by theink-supplying pins IE will be partially transferred to the inking plate 32. The intermittent rotary movement of the inking plate 32 together with the backward and forward rolling engagement of the ink rolls with the inking plate will serve to distribute the ink evenly over the plate and will also provide the inking rolls with a proper supply of ink for inking the type on their next forward journey. As the swinging arm 1 starts its forward journey the rocker M will be turned from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, as stated above, thereby lowering the ink-supplying pins |4 into the ink in the reservoir and withdrawing them from the path of forward movement of the ink roll 6, as indicated in Fig. 4 wherein one of the ink rolls is shown in dotted lines moving forwardly over the ink reservoir.

For giving the rocker l4 its rocking movement We have provided the following construction. One end of the rocker l4 projects through the end wall of the ink reservoir II and is provided with a crank arm l8 carrying at its end a crank pin 9 that extends through and is journalled in a friction block 20. This friction block is received between two bars 2 I 22, said block having grooves 23 in its top and bottom face to receive said bars.

The bar 2| extends some distance beyond the fric tion block 20 and the end 24 is pivoted to an arm 25 which in turn is pivoted to the frame I at 26. The upper end of the arm 25 is connected to the lever I by a link 21. With this construction the swinging movement of the ink-roll-supporting arm 1 will produce a swinging movement in the arm 25, and the swinging movement of the arm 25 will in turn produce a reciprocating movement of the bar 2|.

The bar 22 is carried by two pins or bolts 28 secured to the bar 2|, and said bar 22 is yieldingly held against the block 20 by means of springs 29 which are confined between the bar 22 and the heads .30 of the pins 28.

Fig. 1 shows the swinging arm I in an intermediate position, and assuming that the arm I is swinging to the right to carry the ink roll 6 across the face of the type 4, then itwill be evident that the bar 2| will be having a movement to the right.

swinging movement "of the arms I and 24 the bars 2|, 22 will slide on the block 20 into the position shown in Fig. 6. As the arm 1 begins its return journey toward the left the frictional engagement of the block'20 with the bars 2|, 22 will turn the crank l8 and swing the rocker from the position shown in Fig. 4 into that shown in Fig. 3 with the arms IS in raised position. A stop pin 3| carried by the end wall of the reservoir serves to limit the upward swinging movement of the inksupplying pins "5. This stop pin is situated to be engaged by the end pins of the row as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. After the rocker l4 reaches the limit of its turning movement as determined by the stop pin 3|, and as shown in Fig. 3, then during further return swinging movement of the arm 1 the bars 2|, 22 will slide on the block 20 and at the end of the return movement the parts will assume the position shown in Fig. 5.

The ink-transferring pins l6 are thus alternately, submerged in the ink and then raised into a position to be engaged by the ink rolls during their backward movement from the inking position shown in dotted lines Fig. l to the position in which they are in engagement with the inkdistributing plate 32 so that upon each backward movement of the inking rolls a small quantity of ink will be deposited on the rolls and carried thereby onto the ink-distributing plate 32. Said plate 32 is thus kept supplied with the ink necessary to ink the inking rolls and the cooperation of the inking rolls and the inking plate serves to distribute the ink evenly over the rolls as usual in devices of this type.

While we have illustrated herein a selected embodiment of the invention we do not wish to be limitedto the constructional features shown.

We claim:

1. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, an inking plate, an ink roll, means to give the ink roll a forward and backward vibratory motion during which it moves back and forth across the type members to ink the latter and also backand forth across the inking plate, an ink reservoiiga rocker having ink-supplying pins, means to rock the rocker to submerge the pins in the ink in the reservoir during the forward movement of said ink roll and to raise the pins into position to be engaged by said roll during its backward movement, and means separate from the pins and carried by the rocker for agitating the ink in said reservoir.

. 2. A marking machine comprising a'vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, an ink roll, a swinging arm on which the ink roll is supported, an inking plate, means to swing the arm to carry the ink roll from a position in contact with the inking plate to a position to ink the type member, an ink reservoir, a rocker having a limited rocking movement, inksupplying pins carried by the rocker and adapted by'the rocking movement thereof to be submerged in the ink in the reservoir and to be raised into an elevated position in the path of the ink roll, and means connected to said swinging arm to turn the rocker in a direction to submerge the pins during the forward movement of said swinging arm and to elevate said pins during the return movement of said arm.

3. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, an ink roll, a swinging arm on which the ink roll is supported, an inking plate, means to swing the arm to carry the ink roll from a position in contact with the inking plate to a position to ink the type member, an ink reservoir, a

rocker having a limited rocking movement, inksupplying pins carried by the rocker and adapted by the rocking movement thereof to be submerged in the ink in the reservoir and to be raised into an elevated position in the path of the ink roll, said rocker having a crank arm, a block carried thereby, and a connection between said block and swinging arm including a part having frictional engagement with the block.

4. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, an inking plate, an ink roll, means to move the roll from a position in engagement with said inking plate forwardly across the type members to ink the latter and then return said roll to its initial position, an ink reservoir, a rocker having ink-supplying pins, and means to rock the rocker to submerge the pins in the ink in the reservoir during the forward movement of said ink roll and to raise the pins into position to be engaged by said roll during its backward movement but before it reaches the inking plate.

5. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, a rotatable inking plate, an ink roll, means to give the ink roll a forward and backward vibratory movement during which it moves back and forth across both the type members and the inking plate, means to supply ink to the roll during its backward movement and at a point between the type members and the inking plate, and means to give the inking plate a turning movement while the inking roll is in contact therewith.

6. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, a rotatable inking plate, an ink roll, a carrier therefor, means to give the carrier a forward and backward vibrating movement during which the ink roll moves back and forth across the type members and the inking plate, an ink reservoir, means actuated by the carrier during its backward movement to supply ink from said reservoir to the ink roll while the roll is traveling from the type members to the inking plate, and means to give the inking plate a turning movement while the ink roll is in contact therewith.

'7. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, an inking plate, an ink reservoir, means to give the ink roll a forward and backward vibratory movement during which it moves back and forth across both the type members and the inking plate, an ink reservoir situated below the path of movement of the ink roll, a rocker having inksupplying pins, means operative during the forward movement of the ink roll to turn the rocker on its axis and thereby submerge the pins in the ink in the reservoir and operative during the initial backward movement of the ink roll to again turn the rocker on its axis and raise the pins into a position above the reservoir and into the path of movement of the ink roll in its journey from the type members to the inking plate, whereby said pins deposit ink on the roll before it contacts with the inking plate.

8. A marking machine comprising a vertically reciprocating printing head bearing type members, a rotatable inking plate, an ink roll, means to give the ink roll a forward and backward vibratory motion during which it moves back and. forth across the type members to ink the latter and also back and forth across the inking plate, an inkreservoir having an open top, a horizontallyextending rocker within the reservoir, ink-supplying pins carried by the rocker, means to rock the rocker during the forward movement of said ink roll thereby to submerge the pins in the ink in the reservoir and to again rock the rocker during the initial backward movement of the ink roll thereby to raise the pins into a position above the reservoir and into the path of movement of said ink roll, and means for rotating the inking plate when the ink roll is in contact therewith.

CHARLES F. ROBBINS. CHARLES H. CHEESEMAN. 

